Apartment plumbing is a pipe loop from the riser, which usually runs in the toilet, to consumers. The complexity of the pipeline diagram depends on the location of the plumbing fixtures. It will not be difficult to lay out water supply pipes in an apartment with your own hands if you have the skills to work with a welding machine that solder plastic pipes, and competently draw up a diagram of the location of pipe products.
Water supply system design
It is necessary to start carrying out the water supply by drawing up a project, which is drawn schematically on paper in the form of a sketch. Plumbing fixtures are distributed on the plan of the apartment, to which water supply pipes will be stretched. To consumers from the riser passing through the floors, it is necessary to draw lines indicating pipes so that the connected distances have a minimum length.
Piping in apartments is assembled using a tee or collector circuit. The first is that plumbing fixtures are connected in series to the pipe. The second - a manifold with several connecting pipes is installed. One with a large diameter is connected to the riser, the rest with smaller diameters are connected in parallel with consumers.
The first scheme is easier to install and more economical in terms of material consumption. The second is more efficient in terms of water supply. Water will reach each consumer in the required volume and with a constant pressure. But this scheme is complex, with a large consumption of starting material. In small apartments, tee wiring is chosen.
After choosing a method for distributing water pipes and creating a sketch, you need to calculate how much material will go to the water supply system. Since the diagram on paper is made to scale, it will be easy to calculate the lengths of the pipe sections that are summed up. Here, on the diagram, the installation locations of the fittings will be clearly visible: tees and bends. It is necessary to count their number.
Technological holes were made in the walls and partitions for water supply in all apartments. If the new wiring diagram changes, you will have to make new holes with your own hands using a puncher. This is not always an easy process, especially if supporting structures have to be hammered.
Water pipe
On the market, polypropylene pipe is presented in two versions:
- for cold water supply (blue stripe on the outer surface);
- for hot (red stripe).
The second one can be used in cold water supply, the first one cannot be installed in hot water supply. Fittings are standard, withstand temperatures up to + 95C.
Stages of installing a water supply system in an apartment
It is necessary to start the installation of a propylene water pipe in an apartment with your own hands by applying pipe wiring spots to the walls. In some cases, installation is carried out in the floor. The markings are done with a pencil or chalk. It is important to set lines at the same damage from the floor.
There are two types of mounting:
- hidden;
- open.
The first is that the water pipes are laid in grooves, which are made in the wall or floor. These are grooves with a depth of 1.5-2 diameters of pipes to be laid.After the installation is completed, the grooves are sealed with repair compounds: cement-sand, gypsum, plaster or putty. If the grooves are made in the floor, they are poured with screed during the process of leveling the floor base.
The open method of installation is the fastening of pipes to the walls using plastic clamps (clips). The latter are attached to wall surfaces with self-tapping screws on dowels.
Installation features:
- if hidden wiring is carried out, the hot water supply pipe is always laid to the right of the cold water supply line or from above;
- in an open circuit, the hot water circuit is mounted on top of the cold water supply pipe;
- if the total length of the water supply circuit does not exceed 10 m, pipes with a diameter of 20 mm can be used;
- if this parameter is in the range of 10-30 m, it is better to use pipes with a diameter of 25 mm;
- if the length of the water supply is more than 30 m, it is recommended to install pipes with a diameter of 32 mm.
In the collector circuit for the formation of a water supply system in an apartment, a large number of pipe circuits are used. To reduce them, a combined option is often used - one pipe is drawn to each room, and plumbing fixtures are connected to it through the manifold separately.
Pipe installation
According to the sketch made, pieces of pipes are cut. It is better to measure their length by grooves and cut with a special pipe cutter. Instead, you can use a hacksaw for metal. The main requirement is a straight cut end.
When applying the dimension to the pipe, it must be borne in mind that its ends will be soldered into the fittings. Therefore, each end is slightly lengthened by 1.5-2 cm.
The main requirement for the welding process is to heat the products to the required temperature and insert into each other without rotation.
The installation itself can be started from the riser to the plumbing fixtures or vice versa. The pipe sections laid in the grooves must be fixed inside the grooves. There are several options here, the simplest is to screw a self-tapping screw into the gutter and tie the pipe to it with a knitting wire. If a small diameter pipe is used to carry out the water supply in the apartment, you can skip the fastening. The repair compound will hold the water supply network well inside the grooves.
Lead to plumbing fixtures
There are two ways to connect your plumbing fixture to your plumbing system: rigid and flexible. The first option requires a high accuracy of bringing the pipe to the plumbing fixture. The error is allowed within 1-5 mm. But this type of connection has a big plus - the absence of an intermediate element. One threaded connection is used for docking.
More often they use a flexible type of connection using hoses (sleeves), however, there is some type of equipment that can only be connected rigidly. These are heating boilers or water heaters operating on gas, as well as heated towel rails and storage water heaters.
Flexible hose is easier to connect. Here you do not need to accurately lead pipes to plumbing fixtures. But this type of connection also has its drawbacks:
- two threaded joints, which are always a potential leakage point;
- the quality of the hoses affects the long-term performance of the connection point.
The hoses on the market are presented in two versions. The polymer version is used to connect a washing machine and a dishwasher. The connection is made with plastic cap nuts. The stainless steel braided hose has steel chrome plated or brass cap nuts. In both cases, rubber or polymer gaskets are installed inside the union nuts.
